Ready When You Are
by LilyGhost
Summary: Ranger's ready for someday, but will Stephanie believe him?


Story based on the song "Ready When You Are" by Trapt. All characters belong to Janet Evanovich. Any mistakes are mine.

The street has known for years. My men all know. Hell, even Joe Morelli has known even if he never wanted to admit it. And today,_ finally_, Stephanie knew.

I told Steph that I loved her with no qualifiers, no excuses, no BS of any kind. I flat out told her that I wanted her in my apartment, in my bed, in my life, for as long as she'd have me. You would think that that might sound a little sappy, but since it was coming from me, I didn't have to worry about that.

And now came the hard part ... waiting to see how she'd react. Thankfully, there was a takedown scheduled for tonight to distract me. I didn't want to be watching the clock wondering when I'd hear from her again.

I was currently sitting in a bar off Broad Street waiting for the skip, Cecil Derant, to show when a song came on over the club's speakers. Normally I don't pay any attention to the background noise in these places, but the lyrics to this particular song had me remembering, in detail, our conversation.

_Are you having trouble keeping up, seeing this thing through_

_I want to know who you're running from me, or you_

_You're too confused to open up, feel the way I do_

_I want to know who you're thinking of, cause I really have no clue_

"Steph," I said to her, my tone serious."We need to talk."

My use of her name made her flinch. And after one look at my face, she started mentally throwing up road blocks."I don't want to," she said.

She'd broken up with Joe for the last time a few weeks ago and I'd been applying subtle pressure, not forcing her into anything but reminding her that I wasn't going away, either. She was probably afraid that I'd call in my _someday_ card. She was right. There seems to be only one thing that can scare the shit out of Stephanie Plum ... commitment. Even knowing that, I still had every intention of making Steph mine. In every sense of the word. I've told her before that I'm a good bounty hunter because I'm persistent, focused, and patient. Since Steph was more important to me than hauling in some high-priced skip, all those traits were magnified. Getting her to realize that I was serious about her, about us, wasn't going to be easy, but there was no way I was letting her go again.

"Babe."

She seemed to draw courage from somewhere and started walking towards the living room and the relative safety of her couch."Fine," she said."What do you want to talk about?"

This is one of the things that I love about Steph. She'll use denial as long as she can, but when she has to face something she does it head on.

"Us," I said, sitting down next to her on the couch.

She looked confused for a moment. Then a little bit scared."Us?"

"Yeah, Babe. I want to talk about what's going on between us."

"Umm ... Ranger, what's going on between us is the same thing that's been going on for _years_."

That's what_ she _thought."The last few weeks have been different, and you know it," I told her.

"How?"

"For one thing, Morelli is out of the picture."

"Yeah, and in the past you weren't very far behind him," she said."Instead of taking advantage of the fact the Joe and I were in an off-stage, you'd keep your distance. It just confused me even more."

"I kept my distance for two reasons," I told her."The first one was that I wanted to make sure when we got together there would be no more Morelli guilt."

"And the second reason?" She asked me.

"The second reason was that I didn't want you trying to run away from me like you did to him."

She flinched."That's not fair," she said in a soft voice.

"It may not be fair, but you can't deny that it's true, Steph," I told her."As soon as you realized Morelli was serious about you, about building a future with you, you started backing away from him."

"Shouldn't you be happy about that?" She said, glaring at me.

I felt a smile tugging at my lips. That was pure Stephanie. Going from upset to pissed off in under five seconds."Believe me, I am, but that's not what I want to happen with us."

"What do you mean?"

"You want the truth?" I asked her, knowing that even if she wasn't going to like it, she'd still rather hear it.

She nodded her head in my general direction. I had to stop another small smile from showing. She was going to listen whether she wanted to or not.

"I mean, that I love you. I want to live with you, work with you, make love with you today, everyday, for the rest of our lives," I said to her."Can you handle that, Steph? Handle me?" I asked."I know that you love me, but I need to know that you won't run from me, or from your own feelings. That you'll talk to me when you're ready to try this."

_Another game of charades_

_Don't you know everybody plays_

_I don't want to lose to you that way_

_Maybe we'll be different this time around_

_Maybe we'll be different, I don't know_

_Don't want to strangle this, so I'm holding back for now_

I saw her eyes fill with tears that she wouldn't let fall."I want to believe you," she said,"to say what you want me to say, Ranger, but I don't want to get hurt again. I mean, the morning after we slept together you told me to go back to Joe, for crissake."

That was one of my biggest regrets. At the time, I thought I was doing the right thing, but I should have at least taken the time to explain why I was doing it instead of just telling her to go fix things with another man.

"I'm sorry, Babe," I told her, pulling her across the couch to me."I was doing what I thought was best."

"It hurt, Ranger," she said, her face buried against my neck."I never want to feel the way I felt that morning again."

"You won't, Steph. I promise you that I'll never hurt you like that again."

She pulled away slightly to look up at me."How can you be sure? What happened to 'this is the kind of love that doesn't call for a ring, but a condom might come in handy?' Or, 'my life doesn't lend itself to relationships?' Or, 'I'm not family material?' It's a pretty big leap from occasionally wanting to share my bed to wanting to spend the rest of your life with me."

"Those things were true when I said them," I said,"but my life is different now. I've changed. And so have you. That's why this has to be your decision. Without anymore pressure from me."

She gave a little snort at that. I couldn't blame her. Applying pressure is one of my specialties.

"Okay," I said, smiling."You know me well enough to know that I'm not going to give you _much_ space, but I also don't want you feeling trapped. If you want to pursue a relationship with me then it has to be your decision so I'm going to give you some time to really think about what I'm saying."

_Calm down, don't take it too far_

_I know only time can heal scars_

_So I'm ready when you are, when you are_

_I'm ready when you are_

_Don't want any false starts_

_I can do without the time apart_

_So I'm ready when you are, when you are_

_I'm ready when you are_

After noticing the slightly panicked look on her face, I stopped her when I saw that she was about to say something.

"It's okay, Babe," I said to her, rubbing my hand up and down her back."You don't have to decide anything today. I know you and Morelli haven't been broken up all that long. I just want you to think about what it could be like between us. How good we can be together. And keep in mind that I'm not Joe."

"Ranger, I _know_ you're not Joe ..." she started to say.

"Babe, I don't want to be compaired to him, either," I told her."If you decide to be with me there won't be any off-again-on-again shit. You have to be in it 100%. I've had plenty of time to think about this and nothing would make me happier right now than moving you onto the seventh floor of my building and never letting you leave, but you need to chose me without any doubts, fears, or indecisions. But just know that when you say the word, I'm yours."

_Are you having trouble keeping up, you know that I will wait_

_I wonder if it's good enough to make you stay_

_You're too confused too open up, you don't know what to say_

_Well you can tell me if you think it's love, I won't be far away_

I could see the disbelief in her eyes. She didn't know what to say to that. And I didn't know what else to say that would make her see that I meant everything that I've told her.

"Babe," I said,"look at me." She raised her head and locked eyes with me."Have I been there for you when you've needed me?"

She never hesitated."You've _always_ been there for me, Ranger," she said softly."Even when I didn't think I deserved it."

I pressed a kiss to the top of her head."Have I ever lied to you?"

She paused this time.

"Not omitting details, or holding back information," I clarified."I mean outright lied to you."

"Then, no," she said."I don't think you've ever really lied to me. Though in some cases it might have been better if you had."

"Then you believe what I'm telling you?"

"Up to a point," she said to me. She blew out a sigh."Ranger, I know you love me. You've told me a bunch of times, but I can't stop hearing the qualifiers."

"Babe, I didn't add any."

"I know!" She said, her voice raising."But I can hear them all the same!"

_Another game of charades_

_Don't you know that everybody plays_

_I don't want to lose to you that way_

_Maybe we'll be different this time around_

_Maybe we'll be different, I don't know_

_Don't want to strangle this, so I'm holding back for now_

"I've done a lot of stupid shit in the past, Steph," I said to her,"most if it involving you, but I have a chance now. _We_ have a chance at making this work. Don't let my past mistakes screw it up."

"I'm trying, Ranger," she said."I really am, but it's hard to block out years of you pushing me away."

"I know, Babe, that's why I want you to take some time and think about what _you_ want. If it's me, then you have me," I said. I told myself that I was just giving her the facts, not trying to strong-arm her in any way."If it's not, then we'll stay friends."

She gave me a look so full of disbelief and I had to stop myself from smiling, _again_, at her expression. Damn, she was good for me."_Good_ friends," I amended.

_Calm down, don't take it too far_

_I know only time can heal scars_

_So I'm ready when you are, when you are_

_I'm ready when you are_

_Tied down, don't want any false starts_

_I can do without the time apart_

_So I'm ready when you are, when you are_

_I'm ready when you are_

There was no way in hell that we were going to end up just being friends, but she needed to figure that out on her own. I just hope my legendary control was up for the task of waiting her out.

"Do you mean that?" She asked me."What if we didn't work out? Would we really be able to stay friends? Because I can't risk losing that, Ranger."

This one was easy to answer. I had no doubt that we'd always be together, but I knew no matter what happens I had to have her in my life."Yes, I mean it. You won't be losing anything, Babe."

_I want to know if you're thinking of me_

_I'll be counting the hours even though I know I'm free_

_Too soon to take a chance, no more questions left to ask_

_I could be anything, but the one thing I'm not sure you want to be_

I cupped her face in my hands, keeping her from hiding her expression from me."Babe, do you love me?"

"Yes," she whispered.

That's a good start, I thought."Do you want to be with me?"

"More than anything," she said,"but ..."

I brushed my thumb across her lips."No buts," I told her."Is there anyone else you'd rather be with? Do you want to get back together with Joe?"

She jerked her head up."How can you ask that?"

I didn't say anything. I just raised my eyebrow at her, waiting for her answer. She didn't hold out long.

"No," she said, almost grudgingly."There's no one else."

"Who do you call when you're in trouble? Who do you think about when you can't sleep? Who do you trust more than anyone else?"

Her eyes looked suspiciously bright again."You."

"What do I have to do, Babe?" I asked her.

"It's not you, Ranger," she told me."It's me. This is a lot to take in. I've spent years thinking that we could never happen, so this is a little hard to process."

I held her tighter."I know it is, Babe. That's why I said I'd give you some space. You know where I'll be when you decide." I lowered my head and kissed her. The kiss wasn't so much about passion as it was about showing her how much I love her.

When I finally pulled away, the tears she'd managed to hold back were streaming down her face. I wiped them away with my thumbs, before pressing my lips to hers again. "Think about it, Steph. Think about_ us_."

It was the hardest thing I had to do, but after standing up and dropping a kiss on the top of her head, I forced myself to leave the apartment. Even though I knew I wasn't going to like it, I promised to give her some room to deal with everything that I told her. That meant walking away, if only for a short period of time. It'd better be a short period of time, I told myself. I wouldn't be able to resist seeing her if she waited more twenty-four hours. Forty-eight hours, _tops._

_Calm down, don't take it too far_

_I know only time can heal scars_

_I'm ready when you are, when you are_

_Don't want any false starts_

_I can do without the time apart_

_I'm ready when you are, when you are_

_I'm ready when you are_

_Calm down, don't take it too far_

_I know only time can heal scars_

_So I'm ready when you are, when you are_

_I'm ready when you are_

_Calm down, don't want any false starts_

_I can do without the time apart_

_So I'm ready when you are, when you are_

_I'm ready when you are_

The skip came in just as the song was ending. I waited for him to order a drink and sit down on one of the barstools before I made my move. I saw Lester, and Bobby, waiting at opposite ends of the counter as I walked up behind Durant. I was hoping he'd put up a fight so I could work off some of this tension, but after Bobby, and Lester, and I, closed in on him, he took one look at the three of us and almost wet himself. In under five minutes we had him cuffed, chained to the floor in the backseat of my truck, and on his way to the police station.

I was angling back behind the wheel, with the capture receipt in my hand, when my cell rang. I flipped it open and was surprised to see Steph's number displayed.

"Ranger," Steph said."Where are you?"

"I'm on my way home from dropping a skip off at the station," I told her. I wasn't expecting to hear from her tonight. And I hated to admit that I was feeling a little nervous, and more than a little hopeful, thinking about the reason that she had called.

"I'll meet you at Rangeman," she said.

I swear my heart stopped."Babe?"

I could hear her take a deep breath before slowly letting it out."I'm ready," she said.

_Calm down, I'm ready when you are ..._


End file.
